


Geminids

by starbear (panda_hiiro)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-05
Updated: 2016-09-05
Packaged: 2018-08-13 03:47:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 954
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7961278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/panda_hiiro/pseuds/starbear
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shiro invites Keith out to watch the stars. Pre-Kerberos.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Geminids

It was dark when Keith slipped out of the dorms, half past 8 PM and lights out. 

Sneaking out wasn't exactly hard, or unusual, for Keith, but the reason for it this time was more than a little out of the ordinary. He moved on foot, quiet and unseen, off the grounds, past the weak, unguarded section in the fence, and out to where Shiro was waiting for him. 

"You made it." Shiro smiled at him. He was out of uniform for a change, dressed warmly in jeans and a jacket - even in the desert, it got cold at night, and though Shiro hadn't told him yet where they were going, seeing him dressed like that made Keith wonder if he shouldn't have brought more than a light jacket himself. "You didn't have any trouble, did you?" 

"No. What's this about, though? They're gonna kick my ass if I they find out I missed curfew."

Keith didn't actually give a single crap about curfew. He just wanted to know what Shiro was up to. Shiro, however, just grinned.

"You'll see. Come on."

They didn't have to go far to find the hoverbike waiting for them, gleaming and brand-new, the coat shiny red. Keith felt a sharp, uncontrollable pang of jealousy.

"Woah. When'd you get _that_?"

"Last week. Used my first paycheck." Shiro looked to Keith as if for approval. "What do you think? Is it too flashy?" 

"It's pretty cool, I guess. Maybe a little over the top, for you."

"Ouch." Shiro pretended to wince. "Well, do you think you can stand riding it for a little while?" 

Keith shrugged, and bit back a smile.

"I think I can manage." 

It was a smooth ride, the hoverbike cutting across the vast, endless stretch of the desert, kicking up a pale cloud of dust in its wake. That initial sting of jealousy faded quickly - at least Keith got to ride with Shiro, after all, and if he held on to him just a little more than was strictly necessary...well, he couldn't really be blamed. They drove for a long time, until the lights of the Garrison were little more than a vague, dim glow on the distant horizon. Shiro parked near an outcropping of rock, and motioned for Keith to follow him. He did, without thinking.

"Here we are," Shiro said, and 'here' was a flat space on top of a rocky plateau, smooth and just big enough for them both to sit comfortably. Shiro sat down, patted the space beside him; Keith sat, but kept a small distance between them. It wasn't far enough - he could feel Shiro's warmth radiating from him, could smell his clean, familiar scent. He took a deep breath, and since he couldn't trust himself to look at Shiro, he looked up.

The night sky was so clear it was startling - hues of rich, dark blue and deep black pierced by glittering light, stars and planets and galaxies all arranged above them. 

"I've never been out here at night," he said, after a long while, "Not like this."

"It's something, isn't it? You can see everything so clearly."

"Yeah. Is this what you brought me out here for?" 

"Well, no. Just wait, you'll see in a little bit." 

Keith made a sort of humming noise, and fell quiet. He turned to look at Shiro, then, his vague figure lit only by starlight, his gaze still turned upwards. It was hard for Keith to look directly at Shiro, sometimes, when they were at the Garrison, when they were 'Flight Cadet Kogane' and 'Flight Officer Shirogane.' Here, though, with just the cool, dry desert air between them, he could watch him without worry, without fear that someone might catch him staring a little too long. Shiro was so intent on watching the sky that even he didn't notice, and Keith was okay with that. 

They shared a companionable silence for a while before Shiro's face lit up, and he gestured at the sky. 

"There! Keith, look!" 

Keith turned his gaze skyward in time to see a cluster of meteors streaking across the wide sky. They fell like glitter dancing across the night, bright pinpoints of light that flared and flickered out again just as quickly, coming in quick bursts fast enough that he had trouble counting them. 

When he finally turned his attention back to Earth, he saw Shiro was watching him, his gaze sharp and focused.

"Tonight's the peak of the Geminids meteor shower." Shiro's voice was soft, like he was telling a secret. "That's why I wanted to come out here, to show this to you. I wanted it to be a surprise, so I hope you don't mind?" 

For a moment Keith couldn't answer, his breath caught somewhere in his chest.

"It's nice," is what he managed, finally. He hated himself as soon as he said it - there were a million things he could have said right then, 'it's beautiful' or 'thank you' or 'I am so deeply in love with you.' Instead, he'd gone with, 'it's nice.' 

Shiro smiled, anyway. It was hard to read the expression on his face to tell how genuine it was.

"I'm glad you like it." 

There was a moment, a breath between them that felt like more - weighted, somehow, with things unsaid, and Keith thought that if he'd leaned over and kissed Shiro right then, it would have been the most perfect and natural thing in the world. 

He didn't. 

What he did was shift closer, just enough to touch Shiro's shoulder with his own.

"I'm cold."

"Do you want to go back?"

"No." 

Shiro wrapped his arm around Keith's shoulder, pulled him close, and that, too, felt perfect.

"Okay, then." 


End file.
